Train cuts trailer in half at Somerset railroad crossing

September 25, 2012|JUDY D.J. ELLICH | DAILY AMERICAN REPORTER

Photo by Judy D.J. Ellich

SOMERSET COUNTY — No one was hurt when a CSX train ripped through a 53-foot-long trailer carrying mail at the Pleasant Avenue and Stoystown Road railroad crossing in Somerset Borough at 9:55 a.m. Monday.

"I saw the train drive through the back of the trailer and pick it up," said Clark Brant of Meyersdale, who was driving a coal truck parallel to the train on North Pleasant Avenue. He had stopped to wait for the train to clear the track so he could turn right onto Stoystown Road.

"I had a clear view. I saw the truck sitting on the railroad tracks and the train was coming. Let's just say I was nervous for him," he said.

According to state police Trooper Shawn Fabian, a car had stopped across from Somerset Milling Co. on Stoystown Road and was waiting for the train when a tractor-trailer driven by Gaines Allen Sims, 63, Glen Burnie, Md., came down the hill blowing its horn. The car took off and made it across the tracks. The truck followed. The train cab, which was pulling 14 cars, split the trailer in half.

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"Mr. Sims said that he did not see any flashing red lights, signs or signals and that he did not see the train coming," Fabian said.

Fabian said the truck driver is facing numerous traffic violations.

Richard Walentukonis of Somerset was in Mattress Warehouse, two blocks up along North Pleasant Avenue, when the accident happened

"All I heard was brakes and horn," he said.

He rushed out to see if he could help, but first responders were already there, he said.

The conductor and lone occupant of the train cab, Robert Mongelluzzo of Fayette County, was not injured. He did not want to comment as he looked at the cab's grill, which was filled with letters, boxes and pieces of steel from the trailer. Thousands of pieces of mail were scattered along the train track.

Within minutes of the accident, Postmaster Officer David Leventry, of Somerset, was on the scene, talking to witnesses and taking photographs as part of an investigation.

Leventry checked to make sure no one was injured. Then he called in a crew to clean up the scattered mail.

"We are sending in a crew to clean it up ASAP," he said. "We will re-sort it and send it on its way."

Wendy Hudak, post office operations manager for ZIP codes 155, 157 and 159, was on site in the afternoon.

"The mail is not first-class or priority mail. It is all standard mail: catalogues, advertising," she said.

Some of the mail may be processed today, but it may take a few days for it all to be sorted and shipped. A replacement trailer from the trucking company, Phelps Trucking Inc., had not arrived by 2 p.m. as the cleanup continued.

"Some of this mail may ultimately be destined for here," Hudak said.

The mail was destined for locations in Pennsylvania and Ohio. It originated in Maryland.

"A lot of what I saw is mail from nonprofits," she said.

The road was closed from the borough line to Lake Road from the time of the accident until after 4 p.m. Somerset Borough police, Somerset fire department, Somerset ambulance and state police responded to the scene. Officials from the U.S. Postal Service, CSX Transportation and the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation were also present.

PennDOT spokeswoman Pamela Kane said officials were at the scene of the crash afterward because one of the traffic signals was damaged as a result of the crash.

"We investigate many crashes on state roads," she said.

The crossing belongs to CSX. The approaches — state roads — belong to PennDOT.

"We have to work with the railroad in order to ensure everyone's safety," she said.

Train conductors are under a federal requirement to sound the horn anytime they are coming to a public crossing.

"If you hear a train, don't proceed," she said.

Kane said it is important for motorists to stop at the white stop bar if the red light on the traffic signal is flashing or lit.

"Stop, look and listen for trains," she said. "Always stop when you see the red light. It is the same as any other red light."

Drivers of tractor-trailers have additional duties when approaching a train crossing.

"Large trucks have to look beyond the intersection to make sure the truck will fit before crossing and make sure no one is in front of them as they are going across that could impede their forward movement," she said.

Kane added that the truck driver has to stay in a low enough gear so they do not have to shift gears when they cross railroad tracks.

For a truck driver who spends his days on the road, railroad crossings are a concern.